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Student being and becoming in the future university

Call for papers 01.05.18

Whether your interest in Higher Education research is motivated by philosophy, anthropology, sociology, psychology or another discipline, if you share a concern for student being and becoming in the future university then this conference is for you.

This year’s Philosophy of Higher Education Conference (PHEC) turns its focus from the future university as an institution (the theme of last year’s conference) towards students’ being and becoming in the future university.

The conference will play an important role in the fast developing joint international venture into the social theory and philosophy of higher education, and we encourage a multigenerational host of participants including PhD students, and newer and experienced researchers and scholars.

Conference themes

In a time where the future of universities and higher education institutions is heatedly debated, the scholars and researchers of higher education futures often focus on the impending changes for the researchers themselves and the wider academic communities in the departments and divisions of universities. Not often is the focus turned towards the future curriculum and the future students, who are per definition themselves the future members of universities and higher education institutions. Instead of expecting that students should automatically take over present day socio-political discourses about knowledge workers, social capital, and globalization strategies, we need to explore and discuss what it will mean to be and become a student in the future university.

Will the term ‘student’ even be appropriate in future universities, and how do students see themselves as members of the wider societal context? What does it mean to be and become a student in the 21st century? Here, terms like academic citizenship and formation seem to be of key importance. We need to address the focus of the future academic and the future curriculum and to understand better how deep knowledge, critical thinking and learning, societal membership and citizenship, and cultural value play together in students’ being and becoming. These questions suggest that the time is right to re-think what it means to be and become a student in the future university. We invite proposals for working papers within the following domains:

The conference will take place September 10th-12th, 2018, in the United Kingdom. You will be updated about the exact venue as soon as possible.

Important deadlines and registration

To keep discussion vibrant and to invite for collaborative thinking and learning, we encourage participants to submit their work-in-progress, and thus not finished papers. We welcome individual paper presentations, symposia, and workshops.

All submissions must be made by May 1st 2018. Submissions made after this date will not be considered. Submissions should be send as a word-document attached to an email to Søren Bengtsen: ssbe@tdm.au.dk

Abstracts for individual papers and workshops should not exceed 1000 words in length, including up to 5 indicative references.

For working papers, presenters will have 20 minutes to present their work, followed by 10 minutes for questions, comments, and discussion in plenum.

A symposium consists of 3-4 contributors, including the convener of the symposium. Each contributor writes a short outline not exceeding 600 words and including 3-4 indicative references, and the convener, has responsibility for writing a general introduction to the symposium of 100 words. The convener should submit the introduction together with the contributors’ outlines. These will not be accepted individually.

More information about the different formats can be found on the conference website shortly. After May 1st, all proposals will be reviewed by the conference reviewer panel, and you will receive notice whether your proposal is accepted for presentation at the conference no later than June 1st, 2018, so that you will have ample time to arrange for travel and accommodation. Registration opens from May 1st and the closing date for registration is August 1st, 2018. All registration happens through the conference website.

The registration fee will be settled shortly and you shall be updated as soon as possible.